An Unexpected Guest
by Mollydolly1996
Summary: A Muggle-born Witch receives her Hogwarts letter from Professor McGonagall ONE-SHOT
**So, I've recently just started reading Harry Potter - I know, I'm so far behind. But anyway. Here is how I would like to think a Muggle would get their acceptance letter.**

Faith sat on her bed, fiddling with the wooden pencil in her hands. Her fingers gripped the tip, spinning it around lazily. The lead from the pencil stained her fingers, turning then an dirty grey but she ignored it, twirling the pencil so she was holding it properly between her thumb and finger.

It was meant to be first day of the school holidays but there she sat, a pencil in her hand and an exercise book in her lap. Along with the acceptance letter, her new secondary school had sent her a large exercise book which was to be completed by the beginning of the school year. Why? Well, Faith didn't know the answer to that.

But still, it seemed like Faith would be spending most of her time in door this summer. She had been hoping to go outside and play with her best-friend Sabrina (who also happened to live a few doors down) as they would both be going to different schools but it seemed like that would no longer be an option.

Scratching her head, Faith focused back on her exercise book. Math equations were, in Faith's opinion, the worst. She just couldn't fit her brain around it and, for some unknown reason, the secondary school had put letters instead of numbers. _Algebra_ , it read at the top of the page, _is the part of mathematics in which letters and other symbols are used to replace numbers and quantities in formulas and equations_. Formulas? Was that not what babies had, baby formula? That's what her mum called it, anyway. But still, why swap the numbers for letters? Why not just leave the numbers as they were?

She let out a groan, falling backwards on her bed. Just thinking about it made her head hurt. There were only three questions on the page, she would be expected to do more at school? Faith didn't know if she would be able to handle it, it was just too much. Her brain wasn't made for maths with letters. She could do the simple parts, addition, subtraction, division, times-by. Was that not enough?

She pushed the book off her lap, climbing off the bed and walking over to her bookshelf. The bookshelf was a beautiful white with golden swirls travelling up the sides and stood to just under her shoulder. It was Faith's favourite part of her room, the thing she was most proud of. The bookshelf, which had been a birthday present from her parents, was filled with books. Some short, some large, thick ones, thin ones, hardbacks, paperbacks, some had blue covers, other green.

Faith trailed her fingers over the many spines, looking for her favourite book. Her fingers stilled over a worn-out leather book and she pulled it out. _Fairytale Creatures_ by Wanda Abraham. She took the book back to the bed with her, propping the pillows up before leaning back on them. Now, this was something she was truly interested in. She looked over the index page, _Dragons_ , _Fairies_ , _Goblins_ and _Mermaids_. Oh, how she would love to be one of them. Okay, maybe not a goblin, but still, being a dragon would be cool.

Flicking through the pages, Faith stopped at the dragons, her favourite of all the creatures in the book. The left page held drawings of three beautiful dragons. The largest one was in the middle, printed into the paper as a sketch. It had a long tail with sharp sharp spikes, rough, leathery skin and teeth sharper than knives. At least that's what the comment under the sketch said.

It was beautiful. Well, Faith imagined that it would be beautiful, if it existed. She sighed, letting her gaze drift upwards. She didn't see the ceiling, instead, she was the bright blue sky with white, fluffy clouds. A shadow passed over for a moment before she smiled, catching sight of the giant beast. Giant swing swept over Faith's head, beating against the wind as the dragon pushed its was through the sky. She loved it, just being able to look at it, just being able to hear a loud roar go through her ears.

"Faith?" Her mother called.

Faith blinked her eyes, allowing her imagination to calm and the sky to give way to the ceiling of her bedroom again. She turned to her mother, who stood in the open doorway, smiling at her softly. Dark hair hung over her shoulders in slight waves, her fringe pushed back slightly as it was getting a bit too long.

"I thought you were going to get your homework all done?" Her mother, Rebecca, asked, stepping into the room.

"Its algebra. I don't like it" Faith told her mother, showing her the book. "I got all the other maths done. The science, too."

"So, just English, French, geography, history and algebra to go" Rebecca chuckled, flicking through the pages.

"Why do I have to do this stupid booklet anyway?" Faith sighed, looking at the exercise book with a scrunched up nose. "Is it like some sort of test?"

"Well, your teachers will mark it and then they'll know which level you should be at for your classes. The higher group, middle group or lower group" she replied, laying the book on her daughter bedside table. "Which is why you need to get it finished in time, Faith, it's important. Now, do your French and then you can go see Sabrina."

Rebecca pulled the old copy of _Magical Creatures_ from her daughters grasp, sliding it back onto the bookshelf. After giving Faith a stern _leave it alone_ look, she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

It was late, very late, but Faith hid under her bed covers, her book open in front of her and a flash light in one hand. Her eyes wide, mouth hanging open as she looked over the pages. It was, by far, one of the most interesting reads since... well, Faith couldn't think of an exact time at this moment. But it was a good book.

She turned another page, nearly dropping the flash light. She tightened her hold on it, focusing the light back onto the words on the page. _Bilbo_ had just escaped the goblins, what was to happen next? Faith bit at her lip nervously, blinking her eyes in order to fight off the tiredness.

She had only gotten the book that morning, when her mother had taken her into town. After completing the algebra section of the exercise book (the hardest part of the entire thing), Rebecca decided that her daughter deserved a small reward.

Of course, it took forever for Faith to decide which book she wanted. Her mother sat in one of the offered cushioned chairs, her own book open in her hands and Faith wondered the isles. It was Mrs Pickle, the shop owner, who led Faith over to the teenage bookshelf. Faith had completely skipped that shelf, she didn't want a silly, romantic, teenage story.

But, Mrs Pickle reached out to the bottom of the shelf and pulled out a book which Faith hadn't been expecting. Looking at the title of the book and the blurb, Faith scrunched up her nose in confusion. _The Hobbit?_ What kind of title was that? And what's a _Hobbit_?

Well, after a few hours of reading, Faith would learn what a _Hobbit_ was. And as she turned the pages of the book, getting deeper and deeper into the story, she understood the title. A lone _Hobbit_ surrounded by _Dwarfs_ , _Goblins_ , _Elves_ and, much to Faith's excitement, a _Dragon_!

Suddenly, the bed covers were pulled back and Faith jumped up into a sitting position. The flash light dropped from her hand, rolling slightly before coming a stop beside her now closed copy of _The Hobbit_.

"Faith Erickson, what do you think you're doing?" Rebecca asked, hands placed firmly on her hips. "You are meant to be in bed, asleep!"

"But mum-" Faith protested, reaching for the flash light.

"No" said Rebecca, taking both the flash light and the book from her. "Now, go to bed. You can have this back the day after tomorrow."

"But mum-" she tried again, hand slamming against the mattress of her bed.

"I said no, Faith" her mother snapped. "Now, bed."

Rebecca stood there, waiting as Faith rearranged her pillows before laying down, pulling the covers up and over her shoulders. Giving a satisfied nod, Rebecca left the room, taking the book and flash light with her.

Great, she wouldn't be able to finish her book now. Why couldn't she just wait until the morning? It not like she was properly taking the story in, her eyes were far to droopy for that. She groaned, annoyed at herself as she moved to lay on her side.

It was the middle of summer, a nice July morning. The sun shone through the kitchen window as Faith sat the kitchen table besides her dad, who was reading the morning paper. Shovelling another fork-full of omelette into her mouth, Faith watched her mother place a plate in front of her dad before sitting down with her own breakfast; toast and jam.

"What are we doing today?" Faith asked around a mouthful of egg and cheese.

"Faith" her father, Lawrence, reprehended her, pointedly looking at her mouth.

"Sorry," she said after swallowing her food. "Well, what are we doing? Are we going to the new fair? Or shopping? Can we go to that place where you can paint your own plate?!"

"Not today, Faith. We're just going to have a nice day in" her mother said, spreading the strawberry jam around the edges of the toast.

"But it's Saturday" she whined, sulking in her seat.

"Yes, and a weekend of rest would be nice," Lawrence replied. "Some of us don't have holidays."

"Which is why we should go out" she insisted. "please."

"No" he told her. "We can't go out every weekend."

With another mouthful of eggs and cheese, Faith sulked in her seat. It really wasn't fair. Yes, okay, they went out last weekend, but why couldn't they go out today? It's been seven days, seven long, boring days which have been spent indoors or out on the street in front of her house. Yes, playing with Sabrina was fun, but she wanted to go _out_ out.

Finishing her breakfast, Faith took her plate to the sink. Today was going to be boring. Boring, boring, boring. It was only half-past eight in the morning, what was she to do until bed time? Her mother wouldn't let her sit in front of the TV all day (it would rot her eyes) and it was raining out so her father would insist on her staying indoors (if Faith were to get a cold, it would pass on to him and he could afford time off work).

She'd finished _The Hobbit_ yesterday lunch time, two days after getting it back. It had taken a little longer than her usual reading pace (she'd had to ask her mum what certain words meant) but she had enjoyed the book. She was in the middle of trying to get her mum to by her the next book, _The Lord of The Rings_ , but she kept on being told she was just a little too young for that. Maybe in a year or two, when she was older.

"Why don't you go get dressed and do an hour or two of that book?" Rebecca suggested, nodding towards the stairs. "Go on, the sooner its done, the more time you'll have to play with Sabrina or read one of your books."

Grumbling a reply to her, Faith dragged herself towards the stairs. If she was going to stay in all day, why couldn't she stay wearing her pyjamas? After brushing her teeth, she pulled on an old pair of blue jeans and a stripy pink and purple top. She pulled her wavy hair into a ponytail, pushing it out of the way as she picked up the exercise book and a pencil.

She only had French and History left to do but they were each seven pages long. Now, which to do? She knew the basics of French, they'd had two hours of French a week at her old primary school. History? Well, she remembered doing a wall display on the fire of London and she knew about the wars. Well, she knew a bit about the war, her grandpa had served during the time.

She picked the French section, it seemed like that would be the hardest to do. Grandpa could help with the history if she got stuck, though everyone in her family only knew a few words in a foreign language.

It started off simple, translating small words. Then she had to write a sentence if French, then a paragraph. She was only eleven, how would she know so much of a different language? She wasn't really that clever, was she?

Faith dropped down her pencil when she heard a knock on the front door. She crept over to the window (her room was at the front of the house) and pressed her nose up against the glass. Ah, there, she could just about see who was at the door. It was a woman with greying hair pulled into a bun, wearing a green cloak.

Faith listened as her mother opened the door, muttering a few words to the women about not wanting to buy anything. But then her mother was silent and the other woman spoke a few short words and then silence. It was quiet for a few moments before she heard the door being shut and her name being called.

Leaving her bedroom, Faith made her way to the stairs. From the top step, she would see the woman. She was tall, with a straight posture and an even straighter expression. Her lips were closed tightly as she looked at Faith through her square glasses.

Slowly, Faith made her way down the stairs, stopping at the third from last, watching the woman. She threw a quickly glance at her mother, who was standing against the wall with her hand against her chest and a letter tightly in her grasp, before looking to her dad, who was stood with his arms folded, until her gaze fell back on the strange woman in the emerald cloak.

"Good morning, Faith" the woman said, her Scottish accent strong. The woman looked towards Rebecca and Lawrence. "Perhaps we should sit down for this discussion."

Faith watched in shock as her dad stepped aside and her mum led the cloaked woman into the living room. Lawrence nodded to the front room, a silent order for Faith to go ahead of him. Slowly, Faith went down the final steps and walked past her dad, into the living room.

"I suppose it would be best if I introduced myself first," the woman said, taking her cloak under her as she took a seat in the armchair by the old fireplace. "I'm Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Faith stared at the woman, Professor McGonagall. Gryffindor? Hogwarts? Witchcraft and wizardry? What was this woman taking about? Faith had never heard of a school called Hogwarts and she was sure that witchcraft and wizardry, magic, wasn't real. How could it be?

Faith looked over to her mother, who was sitting on the couch with her gaze focused on the letter in her hand. She remained silent, not looking up. No one commented on what Professor McGonagall had said. Faith, for one, kept silent out of pure disbelief. Maybe this woman was an actress hired by her parents, was this why they wanted to stay in for the day?

"I'm sorry?" Faith heard herself say with a slight shake of her head. "Witchcraft and Wizardry? There's no such thing."

"Are you sure? Have strange things happened lately?" The Professor raised an eyebrow. "Something that you just can't explain."

"No" Faith replied, trying very hard to think of any strange occurrences. Nothing came to mind.

"Yes," Rebecca interrupted, her voice thick. "We were at the book store... a book came of the shelf, on its own, as if by magic. Right behind Faith. Static, or something, I'd thought."

"But there's no such thing as magic" Faith insisted. "The only magic that exists are tricks, the ones done by magicians. Like in Vegas."

Professor McGonagall sighed, looking at the three family members. On a normal Muggle-family case, it was always the parents that were the difficult ones to convince. Children were always excited over the thought of having magic powers, of being special. But this seemed to be a rare change, where the parents were more open to the truth than the gifted child.

Very slowly, McGonagall reached into her cloak, pulling out her Fir-wood wand. With a sweeping gesture and carefully selected words, Faith found herself watching a coffee table hover above the floor in amazement.

It was incredible, unbelievable. After a moment, Faith leant forward, swiping her arm under the table. Nothing. She waved her arm over the top of the table. Again, nothing. No wires to hold the table up and the table wasn't resting on anything. It really was floating in the air, all by itself.

McGonagall smiled softly at the girl, carefully setting the coffee table on the ground. For a moment it was quiet, all three of the Erickson family staring at the table in pure disbelief. How was that possible?

"Now, as I have just given my proof, its time to pass this along" Reaching into her cloak once more, McGonagall pulled out an envelop, holding it out to Faith.

"For me?" she asked, waiting for the woman to nod before taking the envelope.

On the front of the envelop was Faith's name and address, written in neat green ink. She carefully turned the envelope over, fingers ghosting over the seal on the other side. Red wax kept the envelope closed with a 'H' imprinted in it.

Faith glanced up at at the Professor before opening the envelope, carefully pulling out the letter inside. It was light in weight but, somehow, it felt heavy in her hands; as if it had a great importance. She unfolded the parchment, her stomach fluttering with nerves. It was, in fact, two pieces of paper folded together. She smoothed out the first page.

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

 _Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Soc., Chf. Warlock,_

 _Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

 _Dear Ms. Erickson,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

She stared at the letter for a moment, open mouthed. But...But this was an invitation! She'd been invited to go to Hogwarts, the magic school. Well, she assumed it was a magic school, it had 'Witchcraft and Wizardry' in its name. And Faith? Go to the magic school, study Witchcraft! She wasn't sure what to think.

She separated the pages, glancing at the second one. Her eyebrows raised, looking over the list of items it said she would need for her first year at the school. Faith hadn't been to a great deal of shops in her life but she was pretty sure she couldn't walk into her local _Tescos_ and buy a cauldron.

"Erm, Professor..." Faith said, her eyes flickering between both pieces of parchment. "This says that I've been accepted into the school. I don't think I ever applied."

"Oh, dear, you don't apply for Hogwarts. There is a special quill which writes down every magical child's name when they are born, even if they are born to Muggles. That's non-magic folks" the Professor explained. "The day you were born, you were added to that list."

"But how would I get there, where is it?" Faith asked. "I don't even know where to get a cauldron from."

"Hogwarts is a type of boarding school. You'll stay with us through term and on holidays, you'll be able to come home to your family. And Diagon Alley will have everything you need for you school year, I'm arranging to meet the other accepted Muggle-borns in London, so I can show you all how to access it" McGonagall replied.

"But what about her school here?" Lawrence spoke up for the first time, finding his voice. "She's all signed up. What would be say if the government come knocking? I don't know what its like in your world but here, in the normal world, our children have to go to school."

Faith shrunk back in her seat when she caught sight of Professor McGonagall's expression. She didn't realise a person's mouth could go so thin and their eyes could turn so hard. Professor McGonagall did not look pleased at all. Faith couldn't be completely sure what made the Witch so angry -she's a real Witch!- but she suspected it was because of her dad's use of the word 'normal'.

"Mr Erickson, just because the Wizarding world is not normal to you, doesn't mean its not normal to others" Professor McGonagall stated firmly. "We have our own government, the Ministry of Magic. We have a sector whose sole purpose is to make sure that your 'normal' government don't worry about the education of our gifted children. They'll simply be put down as studying at a boarding school, thanks to our talented Witches and Wizards."

Faith bit her lip, refusing to look up at her father. She knew he wouldn't be best pleased with the Professor, he wasn't one to be put in his place often. But, alas, he had been today. Faith had to admit, she was glad the Professor had stood up for the Wizarding world. It wasn't right for her father to be rude and judge them, to make assumptions.

"So, Faith, would you like to go?" Professor McGonagall asked her.

"Oh, yes!" she nodded. "Yes, please!"

"No. Absolutely not!" Lawrence thundered. "What use will learning magic be. She needs qualifications in this she will need to get a job! A good, honest, well-paid job!"

"I'm a Witch and a Professor" McGonagall reminded him, mouth even thinner, if that was at all possible, and eyebrow raised in challenge.

"I want to go dad, please" Faith begged, fluttering her eyelashes.

"No, Faith, no" his head shook.

"Lawrence," Rebecca said, putting a hand on his arm. "Let her go. We know nothing of this world but, looking at Professor McGonagall and hearing about their Ministry, there has to be good jobs. Besides, how could it hurt? Let her go, its what she wants."

Everyone was quiet and Mr Erickson thought over his decision. Faith bounced her knee nervously. He had to agree, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. He couldn't say no. She wanted this more than anything. She wanted to be like the Professor, a fully trained Witch. Working as... well, she didn't know. Surely there were lots of possibilities.

"Fine" Lawrence finally gave in, though he still looked mad. "But I want no magic in this house!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Faith squealed, jumping from her seat and throwing her arms around him. "Thank you!"

"Well, that's settled then" said Professor McGonagall. "You'll get a letter in a day or two, telling you where to meet me so that I can take you to Diagon Alley."

"Thank you, Professor" Faith grinned, following the her to the door where she let herself out.

When the door was shut behind the Professor, Faith let out a loud squeal of joy, jumping up and down in excitement. She was going. She was going to go to Hogwarts. All those magical creature books, maybe it hadn't been for nothing. Maybe there were real magic animals at Hogwarts and she'd be able to learn about them.

This was big, this was incredible. But she knew she couldn't tell anyone, none of her friends. They wouldn't understand. And she guessed she wasn't allowed to. The Wizarding world had to be kept secret. Well, if that was the price she had to pay, she was more than willing.

It a few short weeks, she would be at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And she couldn't wait!

 **So boom. Yeah. There is my first ever Harry Potter one-shot! Sorry if I got anything wrong. I used the information from Wikia and what I've read so far. Criticism is welcome (just don't be too hard!)**


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